Apocalypse: Mad Necromancer’s Troops

Chapter 62: Squad Shortcomings

 

Wu Heng and Barson quickly ran forward, attempting to catch up with the fleeing target.

 

The residential area had a complex network of roads, making it difficult to navigate.

 

As they chased into an alleyway, they heard the sound of heavy blows from within.

 

Wu Heng entered the alley and saw a massive brown bear pinning the glowing wanted man, slamming him heavily into the ground.

 

After one hit, the bear quickly followed up with three more strikes.

 

Then, the wanted man was thrown hard against the wall.

 

The criminal slid down the wall, unable to get back up.

 

Huff~!

 

The brown bear exhaled in relief, and the next second, it reverted to Yuli's form, her forehead covered in sweat, with her slightly curled bangs sticking to her forehead.

 

"Done!" Yuli gave a thumbs-up.

 

"Impressive, as expected of my teammate," Wu Heng also gave a thumbs-up.

 

"Of course!"

 

Wu Heng gave a signal toward the wanted man's body, and Barson stepped forward to deliver a finishing blow.

 

No experience points appeared, indicating that Yuli had already killed him.

 

"What should we do with the body?" Yuli asked.

 

"We should take it back to the Adventurer's Guild, where they'll verify the identity and reward us with the bounty."

 

"When the bounty comes in, how do you plan to spend it?"

 

"Uh, I haven't thought about it yet. What about you?"

 

"I'll start by eating my way through all the taverns in town, then buy some things I like at the black market," Yuli said with her arms crossed, planning how to spend her share of the bounty.

 

Wu Heng glanced at her, then at the body. "This is just an ordinary wanted man; the bounty won't be that high."

 

"Oh, well, then I'll start with the taverns."

 

As they chatted over the body, Kavina quickly ran over.

 

Seeing the body, she also breathed a sigh of relief.

 

"Let's talk when we get back. Let's take the body with us," she said.

 

"Barson, carry the body."

 

Barson hoisted the body, and the three of them headed back toward the tavern.

 

When they returned to the Blushing Mermaid Tavern, a crowd had gathered at the entrance.

 

Among them were patrolling guards who had cordoned off the area.

 

Otruluk stood at the door, with two of the wanted men's bodies at his feet.

 

Seeing his team members return, he nodded and said, "Let's go, back to the Guild."

 

The bodies were loaded onto a cart, and they made their way to the Guild.

 

.........

 

Back at the Guild,

 

the three sat in the rest room, chatting.

 

Capturing the three wanted men so quickly and efficiently was a good thing.

 

Not only did it increase their income, but it also proved that their squad's strength was decent.

 

Though the chase and capture had been a bit messy,

 

the result was positive, and they had successfully taken down the targets.

 

Not long after, Captain Otruluk returned with several money pouches in hand.

 

"The identities have been verified; they were indeed the three wanted men. Here's the bounty, along with the money they were carrying. Each of you gets about 120 silver coins, and Yuli, since you provided valuable intel, you get an extra 10%."

 

These criminals had done quite a bit.

 

The total bounty for the three was only a bit over 100 silver coins, yet each of them ended up with over 100 coins.

 

Unfortunately, the criminals hadn’t had much chance to spend their money, being cautious in the tavern, only to end up killed by them.

 

"No need for that! Let's just split it evenly," Yuli said, scratching her head, feeling a bit embarrassed.

 

"The split stays as is. Next time, anyone who provides accurate intel gets a bigger share," Kavina said, putting her arm around Yuli’s shoulders.

 

"Thanks, everyone," Yuli happily accepted her share.

 

Wu Heng figured she probably wasn’t short on money. After all, her aunt ran the Gold-Fang and apparently had a mercenary group under her command.

 

Yuli had only recently joined the Guild, and her equipment was already enchanted gear.

 

Her background was likely not ordinary.

 

But the girl seemed genuinely happy to earn her first bit of money herself.

 

Otruluk continued, "This operation also exposed some of our weaknesses: a lack of scouting ability, predictable attack patterns, and no means to restrain targets."

 

Oh, boy...

 

A post-mission debrief.

 

Scouting ability—Xiaoxiao was an excellent scout, but he couldn’t reveal that.

 

Yuli’s terror raven form was good for scouting too, but when she was scouting, the team was down a member, making it hard to manage both combat and scouting simultaneously.

 

Besides, Yuli’s scouting skills still needed more practice.

 

As for attack methods, Otruluk and Kavina were both standard melee fighters, Wu Heng had a gun, and Yuli’s animal transformations were decent.

 

The lack of restraint was likely a reference to the wanted man’s escape.

 

They really didn’t have much in the way of crowd control.

 

No one spoke, continuing to listen.

 

"In the future, let’s work on these areas and find ways to cover our shortcomings."

 

"Yes, Captain," they all nodded.

 

Otruluk smiled, "Alright, today’s mission was still a success. It’s getting late, so let’s all get some rest. We can do more of these operations in the future."

 

"Alright!"

 

Everyone stood up and headed outside.

 

They parted ways at the Guild's entrance.

 

Wu Heng hailed a carriage, getting off outside the crowded district and walking back to his place.

 

Once home, he ate something,

 

then took out his sword manual and began training.

 

.........

 

The next day,

 

in the zombie world, on the rooftop.

 

Wu Heng stood on the rooftop, checking the levels of his skeletons.

 

Besides Barson, Sword One, and Crossbow One, who were brought back from Blackstone Town,

 

the skeletons from this world had also gained significant levels.

 

One level 5 skeleton, 18 level 4 skeletons, 77 level 3 skeletons, with the rest being level 2 and level 1, totaling over 500.

 

Several of the level 4 skeletons were close to reaching level 5, which would unlock the 【Basic Soul】 trait.

 

This would make them better at following orders and less robotic in their movements.

 

After confirming the number and status of his skeletons, he led the skeleton army down the building and out of the community.

 

Only half the route to the 'hardware store' had been cleared, as they’d been delayed by the survivor situation.

 

Today, they needed to continue clearing the path and retrieve the steel inside.

 

Yesterday, they cleared the road to the north, and today they’d clear the rest.

 

.........

 

Atop the auto repair shop,

 

Li Yahong and the others cautiously lay on the roof, watching the skeleton army pass by.

 

One of them said, "What’s with these guys? Those things they’re wearing look like something out of a movie."

 

"Doesn’t seem like a group of espers. Can espers conjure armor and weapons like that?"

 

"I remember there’s a Daoist temple on the back of Mount Suhua. I wonder if it can ward off these skeletons."

 

No one responded to him. Someone else said, "It looks like they’re heading to the construction supply street. Didn’t Qiangzi escape from there? He said there were a lot of zombies."

 

The person called Qiangzi immediately turned around and said, "Yeah, there are a lot of zombies in that area. Don’t know if they’ll make it."

 

After a brief silence,

 

someone else asked, "Sister Hong, do you think they might not come back? Should we still make the iron spears?"

 

Li Yahong watched the skeletons fade into the distance and said, "Keep making them."